DALLAS, Texas (June 28, 2012) – The U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team goes into its final weekend of FIVB World League pool play hoping to extend a six-match winning streak at least two more matches to earn a trip to the Final Round.

The four teams in World League Pool C have converged on Dallas, Texas, where they will play two matches a night (at 5 and 7:30 p.m. CT) on June 29-July 1 at the Dallas Convention Center Arena.

On Friday (June 29) the U.S. Men, ranked No. 6 in the world, will open against Korea (No. 20) at 7:30 p.m. CT while Italy (No. 3) plays France (No. 21) at 5 p.m. CT. On Saturday, the U.S. Men will play France at 7:30 p.m. while Korea takes on Italy at 5 p.m. On Sunday, the U.S. will go up against Italy at 7:30 p.m. while France faces Korea at 5 p.m.

The matches will be broadcast on July 4-6 (6:30-8 p.m. ET) on the NBC Sports Network.

The U.S. Men lead World League Pool C with a 7-2 record. They need to win two out of three matches this weekend to secure their pool. France sits in second at 6-3.

The U.S. Men, who will begin defense of their 2008 Olympic gold medal in about a month, will also be warming up for London this weekend. Italy appears to be doing the same as it brought its top team and head coach to Dallas after using some younger players and an assistant coach for the past two weekends.

“We are in the process of deciding our final 12 players for London,” U.S. Head Coach Alan Knipe said. “These World League matches are an important part of that.

“We are also continuing to fine-tune our game plan for London.”

The positive results over the past two weekends have resulted in several U.S. Men improving their individual statistics.

The United States’ Donald Suxho (Korce, Albania) leads all World League setters with 238 assists and three faults on 632 attempts. He is averaging 7.21 assists per set.

Rich Lambourne (Tustin, Calif.) is fourth among all liberos. He is fifth among all diggers with an average of 2.06 per set. He is fifth among all receivers with an efficiency percentage of 54.09.

Middle blocker Russell Holmes (Fountain Valley, Calif.) is fifth among all blockers with an average of .70 per set.

Opposite Clay Stanley (Honolulu, Hawaii) leads the U.S. in aces and in seventh overall with an average of .33 per set.

Outside hitter Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) leads the U.S. Men in scoring and is seventh overall with 135 points on 109 kills, 17 blocks and nine aces. Stanley is second on the team in scoring with 94 points on 67 attacks, 16 blocks and 11 aces.

OTHER POOLS

Among the other World League pools, Pool B completed play two weeks ago with Poland winning the Final Round berth with a 10-2 record and 29 points. Brazil finished second with an 8-4 record and 26 points, making a strong push at earning a berth as the best second-place team.

Pool A has been decided, even with one weekend left to play, as Cuba is in first at 8-1 with 23 points. Russia and Serbia are tied for second, each with 15 points.

Pool D is still being decided as Germany leads with 22 points and a 7-2 record. Bulgaria, which will go to the Final Round automatically as the host, is in second at 6-3 with 16 points while Argentina also has 16 points with a 5-4 record.